


Oh don't you know it

by 00FFFF



Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: Blaze Grian, Friendship, Gen, Ghast Mumbo, Non-human hermits - Freeform, Wither Skeleton Iskall, a little bit of hurt but mostly happy times, dude I love this idea to bits!!!, minecraft au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:11:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23859607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00FFFF/pseuds/00FFFF
Summary: Mumbo is a ghast. Doing ghast things as ghasts do. One day he meets a curious creature, one who doesn’t seem to be afraid of him and who doesn’t want to attack him either. Could this be his first chance at friendship?
Comments: 12
Kudos: 164
Collections: Non-human Hermits





	Oh don't you know it

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JustASeaUchin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustASeaUchin/gifts).



> I know it's been a while but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! <3
> 
> Inspired by u/CR_UwU's wonderful artwork which you can see [here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/HermitCraft/comments/f2w0gh/everyone_vampire_mumbo_me_gghast_mumbo/)
> 
> A small way to say thank you to everyone I’ve met through this amazing community- all the amazing people on here, over on twitch, and reddit! <3 I love your faces, keep being awesome!! Your creativity inspires me!!

Mumbo sighs as he cautiously rifts across a lava lake. Another day spent floating around aimlessly in the depths of the Nether. Life down here was hard, for ghasts like him. There’s danger around every corner- If it’s not lava streams he has to avoid, it’s humans shooting their arrows at him that are making his life more dangerous. And if he’s not careful with his aiming (something he isn’t particularly good at in the first place), accidentally hitting a pigman meant that he couldn’t stop to rest on solid ground until he was what felt like hundreds of chunks away.

And to top it all off? He’s lonely. All ghasts are, he supposes. Ghasts refuse to stick together, you see. Something about being too big of a target for humans. Mumbo doesn’t get it. He just- he just wants some companionship, is that too much to ask? A hand to hold, an ear to listen. But he’s got nobody, so most of the time he just cries. He cries silently and floats around aimlessly, as ghasts do.

Still, he can’t shake the feeling of wanting a friend. A companion to hang out with, somebody to just talk to. But his instincts make it hard for him to really keep anyone around for long. Anything that gets too close to him, gets a heavy dose of fireballs shot at it. It’s a part of what he is, Mumbo supposes. As much as he doesn’t want to, that same heat bubbles up in his stomach time after time, blowing any creature and its surroundings up into nothingness. Gone before he can even begin to apologize.

But then, one fateful day he floats a little too close to a fortress. And one of its inhabitants floats a little too close to him. Mumbo is elated before his happiness is crushed as he feels the heat bubbling up in his throat, the all too familiar feeling of the way his kind protect themselves. _No no no no don’t do it no I don’t want to hurt him no please-_ but it’s too late. The fireball fires, as it always does. He can’t control it. Mumbo watches with tears in his eyes as it flies towards what could have been his first friend. “I’m so sorry-” Mumbo whispers into his sleeves. He can’t watch.

He hears the fireball hit.

Mumbo peeks from behind his hands. The figure still floats, a big grin on his face.

…

He isn’t hurt? _He isn’t hurt?!_ Oh no. Did he make him mad? Mumbo hides behind his sleeves again. The creature keeps approaching him, and something inside of Mumbo wants to get away as fast as possible. The creature must be so mad at him, he must want to hurt him, right? What else could he want from him? Mumbo peeks up from behind his sleeves, and to his surprise, the creature doesn’t look mad. Not at all, actually. He looks... _happy?_ He floats up towards him. Mumbo can feel the fire charge lighting up again. He can feel it firing at the creature again. It hits, but the figure still floats, unharmed.

He quickly wipes his tears as the creature- a blaze, Mumbo can see now, slows down to hover beside him. He’s never seen one from this close before. Every instinct inside him is telling him to flee, to fire more explosive charges as he makes his escape, but this is the _first time_ that somebody’s been able to come up to him..! Something in Mumbo is excited at the prospect of the very thing that is happening in front of him. His heart is pounding out of his chest.

The creature holds out his hand, a big grin on his face. “Hey there, I’m Grian!”

Mumbo tucks his arms to his sides, suddenly incredibly aware of what he’s doing and how he’s presenting himself. _Gosh, he’s never done this kind of thing. He’s never been able to get so far, he never thought this far ahead. What does he do? What was he supposed to do now?_

The blaze- _Grian_ chuckles, and then soon after that his contagious laughter is bouncing off the netherrack walls. A noise escapes from Mumbo’s mouth, something he’s never heard before. He puts his hands in front of his mouth, scared and surprised. But it only makes Grian chuckle louder and louder.

Grian catches his breath. His voice sounds... it sounds nice.

“Oh man, I’ve never heard a ghast laugh before! And by the looks of it, you haven’t either, huh?”

Laughing? Was that what he was doing?

Mumbo shakes his head.

“What’s your name, friend?”

 _Friend?_ This was going way too quickly for him. Mumbo’s mind is racing with thoughts all over the place.

“Hey, it’s okay. If you don’t want to tell me you don’t need to right away. Take my hand. I promise I won’t hurt you. That is- if you don’t launch any more fireballs at me.” He snorts again.

Mumbo starts to panic. Was he hurt by his fireballs after all? Gosh, how could he be so stupid?! Of course he didn’t want to be friends after being shot at. Who would want to be friends with someone when the first thing they do is shoot fire at them?! Stupid, stupid, stupid-

“Hey, dude, it’s not stupid.” Grian says.

_Did Mumbo really just say that out loud?_

“Besides, I’m not even hurt! See?” Grian twirls himself around, flames flickering at the movement. “I’m made of fire! You couldn’t hurt me even if you tried!” He laughs. Mumbo smiles, and it feels foreign, but good. He feels good.

“I-” Mumbo works up the courage to speak out loud. Grian perks up at the sound of his voice. He nods for him to continue.

“I’m Mumbo.” He says. He knows his voice isn’t the loudest, but Grian smiles nonetheless.

“Mumbo!” He exclaims. “What a wonderful name! Let me show you around my home!”

Grian holds out his hand. The blaze's smile somehow calms Mumbo's nerves. Filled with more confidence, he takes his hand. Grian swoops down back towards the fortress, taking Mumbo with him.

The blaze shows Mumbo around the place. It's an abandoned little fortress, not too big and not too small. There are no other creatures around, as far as Mumbo can tell. Grian shows him the small brewery he's set up, and Mumbo marvels at the decorative skills that Grian apparently possesses. He's never seen anyone use fences to line the hallways like that, and the windows looking out over one of the lava lakes looks absolutely amazing..!

A little while later they float out onto the outside platform, where Grian has managed to set up some sort of practice range. Netherrack and brick fences acting as targets to shoot at. Mumbo stares in awe as Grian show him that he can shoot fire too. And he's quite good at it, too. Grian urges Mumbo to try as well, and though his first few shots aren’t as graceful or as accurate as he would have hoped, the next few _at least_ go in the right direction.

Grian’s laughter is indeed contagious, and all too soon Mumbo finds himself laughing with him, unrestrained.

Hearing all the commotion, shortly after a wither sketeton shows up seemingly out of nowhere, almost blending in against the dark walls of the fortress. Mumbo yelps and hides behind Grian, mindful of the flames covering his body. Grian looks happy to see the skeleton, though, and for a second Mumbo is very confused.

“Oh! I totally forgot! Let me introduce you to my friend, Iskall.” He motions towards the wither skeleton.

He holds out his hand, and Mumbo shakes it. _Wow._ Iskall might not be able to float, but he’s absolutely _towering_ over Mumbo. 

Grian suggests they practice together. Iskall is a champ at dodging and reflecting fireballs. Grian flies off to do something else, muttering something about 'snacks' as he flies off.

Mumbo is hesitant to be left alone with Iskall just like that, but he warms up quickly to the skeleton. He has a great sense of humor, and _gosh._ He thought that _Grian’s_ laugh was contagious. Iskall’s cackles were filling the small pocket of the Nether, and for a solid minute? Minutes? Mumbo feels like he can’t catch his breath in between his own laughter.

They practice for a good while, and Mumbo feels like he’s genuinely getting better at hitting targets. Actually, he’s finally getting some form of control over his projectile shooting, which is definitely a first.

Iskall tells him all about his and Grian's shenanigans. Pulling pranks on local pigmen, creating mazes in the endless expanses of netherrack above and below, and scoping out territory for new building materials to upgrade their humble abode. It all sounds amazing, and Mumbo wishes he could have met these two sooner. Speaking of, Grian was taking his sweet time with those snacks.

But as Mumbo's lost in thought, he doesn’t see the fireball that's being reflected straight back at him.

It hits.

The air is knocked out of him as he drops to the floor, unable to stay afloat. He clutches his stomach, feeling a burning sensation, going way too deep for his liking.

He knew it. He should have known better. The other ghasts were right for staying away from others, for staying away from _danger._ For the first time since he met Iskall and Grian that day, his tears begin to flow again. Mumbo takes short breaths. His heart feels heavy, but not from being hit. Iskall... he hadn't _wanted_ to hurt him, did he? Was this what it was like, having friends? Mumbo tries to get up, tries to get away, but the pain is too much. 

Iskall runs up to him, crouching down next to his curled up figure. "Oh no, oh no no no oh no... Mumbo? Mumbo, can you hear me?" He says, but his voice sounds muffled. Mumbo feels two bony hands inspecting his body, moving carefully around his wound.

"Stay with me, alright? I'm so sorry, Mumbo, I didn't meant to hit you, I swear-! Grian! Grian, get me some potions, please, I- Oh, Mumbo, I'm so sorry!"

Mumbo vaguely feels his hands being clutched by Iskall's shaking ones. He peers up, and sees... tears? That's weird, why does Iskall look so hurt? Why would he cry for him? Mumbo wants to reach out, wants to comfort the tall skeleton, but he winces as he accidentally disturbs the gaping hole in his abdomen.

Not a moment to soon a potion is poured into his mouth, and after a warm, bubbling sensation where previously there was only fire and pain, Mumbo shoots upright, awake and safe and healed. Iskall practically launches himself into his arms, and his hug feels oddly soft. Safe. Mumbo hugs him back, comforting the tall skeleton now that he knows he'll be alright. Grian joins the two with a big smile, enveloping the both of them with a pleasant warmth. 

"I guess... I guess some more practice is in order." Mumbo says, earning him some relieved chuckles from the other two.

"Alright. Let's just keep some potions around, just in case." 

"That sounds like a plan to me!"

"So, want to continue training?" Iskall gets up, holding out a hand for Mumbo to take.

He nods. "I want to get better at dodging. I don't know how I survived all this time, honestly."

"Because you knew you were going to meet us, of course!" Grian cheers. He spins around happily, and Mumbo floats up, getting ready to fire another fireball. He feels a lot more confident, now that he knows what it’s like to get hit. Now that he knows his friends are here for him. And especially knowing that there’s potions close by, in case things do go wrong a second time. Which, he's got to be honest, most definitely will happen again.

The three of them practice for hours on end, laughing and dodging and falling into a pile of giggles. When they're all tired out Grian and Mumbo snack on some freshly roasted nether warts, whilst Iskall fixes up some hard to reach places that have been hit in the crossfire (“But you guys can fly! That’s unfair!” “Yeah, and Mumbo got hit and I’m tired from preparing these snacks. Pleeeeaseeee, Iskall?” “...Fine.”).

A short visit to his friends’ fortress every day quickly turns into Mumbo moving in with them. And the humans never do find them. They truly are safe. This little pocket of the Nether is theirs and theirs alone, only really limited by how far Iskall can follow him and Grian on foot. The three friends go off on adventures, exploring the deepest parts of the nether which have never been seen before by any of them. Mumbo feels, that when he’s together with his new friends, nothing is too dangerous for him anymore. He doesn’t cry. Hell, he hasn’t shed a single tear since the day he met Grian and Iskall.

Grian and Iskall. The two creatures who took him in as one of their own. Mumbo is still amazed at how quickly they'd become friends.

And it feels right. Like he was always meant to meet them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, I'm really glad I get to share this corner of the internet with you all, as sappy as it sounds. Hermitcraft fics get them creative juices flowin, babey!!
> 
> Title from ‘Rock n Roll Best Friends’ by TWRP 𝅘𝅥𝅮


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